EUGENE, Ore. -- The Oregon Dept. of Employment is looking at how a large-scale west coast tsunami would affect employment numbers for the state.

There are 37,000 people working within the tsunami inundation zone associated with an earthquake magnitude 9.1 or greater.

Officials hope to pinpoint what the loss to consumer base and revenue would be, should the Oregon coastline be hit with a tsunami similar to the one that hit Japan.

“Probably the majority of our job base is in the tsunami inundation zones - at least the business part of it. Your residences are up out of the way, but you know most of your businesses are up right down near the water,” said Michael Murphy of the Coos County Emergency Management.

Murphy says the majority of injuries during an earthquake come from debris.

“Our biggest deficit here is that we have a lot of old building stock that was built years ago, that did not meet any of the earthquake codes. Anything new will at least be built to code, so that will be a huge advantage,” said Murphy.

After the ground starts shaking, Murphy suggests you get to high ground as there could be a tsunami.